


Devil's on the Loose

by ConstantWriter85



Category: Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Protective, Survival, Whump, Wilderness Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:28:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23303143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConstantWriter85/pseuds/ConstantWriter85
Summary: In 1973, the Monarch Corporation sent an ill-fated initial expedition to Skull Island--no one returned. Five years later, former SAS Captain and veteran tracker James Conrad has been hired to track the missing crew and provide protection for the scientists looking to continue the initial expedition. Alex Beck is the pilot of Fox-5, and a woman with a secret of her own. Her brother was on the initial expedition--and she means to find him.
Relationships: James Conrad & Original Female Character(s), James Conrad/Mason Weaver, James Conrad/Original Character(s), James Conrad/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Devil's on the Loose

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Run Through the Jungle" by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

June, 1978

Conrad adjusted the pack on his shoulder as he approached the Huey. It was a beautiful morning and the _Athena_ gently rocked in the swells, but one look to the East told a different story. Dark storm clouds gathered at the horizon, obscuring the island below. The strange thing was, the storm never came any closer—it just stayed in a ring around the island. He was sure that wasn’t the only strange thing they were going to see today, if the intel was to be believed.

They were part of a recon mission to survey the Skull Island. In 1973, the Monarch Corp sent out a preliminary survey group to search for primeval life on the island. The group, comprised of scientists with a small military contingent, were never heard from again. Now, nearly five years later, they had secured the funding to send a small reconnaissance force in to find out what happened.

A former SAS Captain and a veteran tracker, James Conrad had been hired to track the missing crew and provide protection for the scientists. He had already met most of the crew of FOX-5, one of eight helicopters. Mason Weaver, the female photographer, Sergeant Slivko, and the side gunner were already seated in the cabin, and he nodded hello to them. Conrad tossed his bag in the rear of the helicopter and climbed aboard. The only remaining members of FOX-5 he had yet to meet was the geologist Mark Riley and the pilot and medic, Alex Beck. The crew seats were full, so he climbed into the cockpit and glanced at the figure sitting in the pilot’s seat.

To his surprise, a woman sat in the seat. She was going through the pre-flight checklist, testing comms and flicking switches. Conrad cleared his throat.

“Is this seat taken?”

She looked up and flashed him a smile. “Be my guest.” Her dark hair was drawn back from her face and aviator sunglasses were perched on her head. He extended his hand, and she grasped it warmly.

“James Conrad.”

“Alex Beck. And it’s Captain Conrad—if I’m not mistaken.”

He smiled back. “That’s right, British SAS--Inactive, though, I’m afraid. I’m just here as a tracker.” He paused, not wanting to offend her. “Where…um, how…”

Beck laughed and went back to her checklist. “It’s okay. I know I’m not what most people expect when they look in the pilot’s seat. I’m a paramedic up in Anchorage, Alaska. I fly the rescue choppers up there.”

Conrad started to ask what brought her all the way down here, when Packard’s voice broke through on the radio.

“Fox Leader to Fox Group—time to fire ‘em up…let’s go.”

Beck glanced back at the crew cabin and did a quick head count. “We missing anybody?”

“Reid ain’t here yet.” Slivko said. Conrad rolled his eyes. Figured. The geologist had grated against his nerves in the briefing; he was arrogant, pompous, and abrasive—a recipe for disaster.

“Good lord--it’s a woman. Really scraping the bottom of the barrel, aren’t we?” Reid laughed to himself as he bounded into the crew cabin. “Why don’t you shove over, sweetheart and let the Captain drive.” He tossed his bag in the back and strapping himself in.

The only indication Beck had heard Reid’s crude remark was a muscle twitching in her jaw. She donned her headset, firing up the engines.

“Sit down and headsets on—it’s going to get bumpy up there.”

“Yes, _ma’am_.” Came the sarcastic retort. Conrad opened his mouth and was turning around when Beck shook her head at him. She was right. It would just give him fuel for the fire.

“Fox Leader to Fox Group—showtime. Grab some altitude and get into formation. Combat spread—keep visuals. Fox-5, let me know when you’ve closed.” Packard called over the radio. Through the Huey’s windshield, Conrad saw the lead aircraft lift off, shake a little in a sudden gust and then climb up and to starboard.

Beck increased throttle and pulled back on the controls and the Huey lifted off the deck, buffeted by the high winds and spray. Fox-5 drew in line behind the lead chopper, continuing to rise towards the storm.

Conrad gripped his seat arms until his fingers hurt. Six years before, he’d been in a chopper that had gone down after striking a flock of birds over Malaysia. He’d been the only survivor. He certainly had no love for flying, and already couldn’t wait until his feet were back on the ground.

“Fox-5 in the slot.” Beck’s calm voice called out over the radio. They could see the cliff face of the massive storm front as they approached it. Rain slashed across the windows. It grew darker, and the chopper began to vibrate. It was disconcerting, and Conrad was about to comment when they plummeted and the sky turned black. Lightning flashed across the sky, and rain pelted the windscreen.

“You might want to hang on!” Beck called, her voice light. Conrad clasped his seat even harder.

“That’s the understatement of the year.” Someone shouted in the headset.

Any doubt Conrad had in Beck’s ability to pilot the Huey disappeared as he watched her expertly navigate through the storm. Her hands lightly gripped the controls as she glanced calmly between the windscreen and the gauges. She frowned and tapped the compass pointedly.

“Compass is all over the place. Switching to inertial navigation.”

Moments later they broke through. The buffering and battering ceased as quickly as it had begun, and sunlight streamed through the windows. Conrad heard someone laugh and open the Huey’s side door, flooding the cabin with fresh air.

Ahead of them, Skull Island loomed, rising beautifully through the mists. Massive mountain ranges gave way to glistening blue rivers that reached to the ocean. Flocks of birds flew far below them. It was beautiful.

Conrad glanced back at the crew, smiles on their faces as Weaver snapped happily away with her camera. He glanced over towards Beck. He expected her to be reacting similarly to the beautiful sight, but instead her jaw was clenched as she gazed down at the island with a mixture of hate and suspicion.

 _That’s a strange reaction._ He thought, mentally filing it away.

“Fox Leader to Group,” Packard said. “Split into your groups, survey your zones. Let’s get to work!”

Conrad held on tight as the Huey tilted and split to the right, dropping with three others into a valley and following the river upstream. As they turned another bend, a deafening roar overpowered the sound of the rotors.

An uprooted tree flew through the air, striking the helicopter right in front of them. Beck cursed and pushed the controls forward, ducking under the stricken Huey as it tumbled over them. The jungle below them burst apart and a giant hand reached out and grabbed the smoking aircraft.

Conrad tried to make sense of what he was seeing, but he could find none. It was an impossibly massive gorilla, over two hundred feet tall. It shook the Huey in its hand, and he saw bodies fly out before the beast smashed it into the side of the mountain.

The radio burst into panicked shouting as Beck increased throttle, trying to get them away from the huge gorilla as it lumbered towards them. A hail of rocks, soil, and trees were flung skyward at the retreating choppers. She swore and banked hard, avoiding the worst of the onslaught. The other Huey wasn’t so lucky.

A massive fist hit the cockpit, crushing in the side and sending bodies flying out of the open door. Beck banked away from the flying debris as a body tumbled towards them.

It hit the rotors. The body was diced in a second, bloody innards and flesh splattering across the windshield. A spray of blood flew in through the open window and across Beck and Conrad. An alarm started beeping rapidly and smoke billowed from the engines.

“What the hell is happening?” Reid screamed, frantic.

Beck struggled with the controls, fighting to keep the nose level. “One of the gearboxes is blown.” She said calmly, her mouth set in a grim line. Her fingers flew over the switches. “Ahhh…we might be in trouble here—do you see any place to land?” Beside her, Conrad gripped the roll bar, surprised she could be so calm at a time like this. She shot him a look.

“Conrad! I don’t want to go into a spin--we need to find a place to land, now.” Her voice shook him out of his stupor and he peered out of the fouled windshield.

“There!” He shouted, pointing to a small clearing to their right. Beck turned the struggling chopper towards the field and began their descent. Conrad continued to scan the area, looking for the beast.

“Anyone got eyes on that ape?” He asked. He glanced out the side window and saw the huge gorilla turn and jump towards the remaining choppers. It had forgotten about them—for now.

“Watch out!” Slivko yelled. Beck instinctively flinched and jerked the controls hard as she saw a shape come flying at their tail rotor from the right. It was the tail from another chopper—the ape had thrown it at their retreating Huey. She swore loudly and pushed the controls harder to the left, but it was too late.

The fragmented tail piece struck the Huey hard, ripping off their tail rotor and sending them into a spin. Alarms blared and the chopper swung sickeningly.

“Brace yourselves, we’re coming in hard!” She shouted as she struggled to minimize the spin and keep them headed towards the clearing. Beside her, Conrad dropped back into the co-pilot’s seat and struggled with his belt. He was breathing hard, and with every blink he remembered the other chopper crash.

“This is Fox-5, we’re going down.” She groaned as she fought the controls. The clearing was still over 300 yards away as their landing gear began to scrape the treetops.

They weren’t going to make it.

“Brace!” Beck shouted as the chopper slammed into the tree canopy. It was like flying into a wall. Conrad felt his body slammed against his harness and the breath was knocked from him. There was a tremendous crash and the chopper was jerked sideways. Conrad’s head snapped sideways with the impact, and the world went black.

***

He struggled up from the deep pool slowly, the world at first a confusing jumble of blurred images. A high-pitched ringing filled his ears, and he distantly smelled smoke. He didn’t think he had been out long—most likely he had just blanked at the moment of impact.

Conrad raised his head slowly, ignoring the screams of protest from his neck. Whiplash. The smell of smoke was stronger now, and he could hear someone coughing behind him. He tasted blood, but he didn’t think it was his own. Painfully, he turned his head to check on the pilot.

“Beck.” He croaked. Her eyes were closed, and she was leaned forward against her harness. Blood streamed down the side of her face and dripped off her chin.

“Beck?” He said, louder. He reached for her, his hand gripping her shoulder. He needed her to answer him. “Beck!” He shook her hard and her head rolled to the side.

Finally, her eyelids fluttered, and she gasped. Conrad breathed a sigh of relief. Beck groaned, reaching a tentative hand up to her head.

“Ugh…not my best landing.” She bitterly spat a mouthful of blood on the floor and looked around.

“You okay?” He asked.

“I’m not really sure how to answer that—did we just get taken out by a giant monkey?”

He grinned grimly at her spunky reply. "Yes, I believe we did.”

“Good…for a second there I thought I was seeing things.” She stared out of the ruined windshield. “We’re still in the trees.”

Conrad looked down. They had come to rest 10 feet above the ground, the dense tree cover saving them from a much worse impact.

“You guys okay up there?” Slivko called.

“Yes, but we need to get out of here. Can you get out through the door?” He asked.

“Yeah…It’s just Weaver, Reid and me…the gunner’s gone.” Conrad heard shuffling and grunting behind him. He released his own straps and looked over to Beck, who was struggling with hers. He didn’t waste any time. He drew his combat knife, leaned across her body and cut the harness. Beck threw her med bag out of the open window. They edged together towards the door and started climbing down.

Once her feet touched the ground Beck’s knees gave way and Conrad grabbed her arm to steady her.

“You’re hurt.” He guided her to a fallen log and she sat down heavily. Couching down in front of her, he peered worriedly in her eyes. The gash at her hairline was deep and still bleeding—he caught a glimpse of bone before she pressed a hand to her head. She had to have a concussion at least. Beck waved him off with a grim smile.

“I’ll be okay, I just need to stitch this up—can you find my bag?” She asked. “Is everyone else all right?”

The group nodded—only minor cuts and bruises—although Reid looked like he wanted to say more. Conrad found the med bag and brought it to Beck. She quickly rummaged through it and pulled out a suture kit, disinfectant, and a mirror.

“Sure you don’t want some help?” He asked gently.

Beck grit her teeth as she irrigated the wound and applied the disinfectant. “Thanks, but I’ve got it…unfortunately it’s not my first time stitching up my own face.”

He suppressed a grin, admiring her grit. The jungle pressed in on the group, and the others looked uneasily around them as birds chirped and cawed in the trees. Conrad, however, felt completely at ease. He was back in his element.

“I need to get to higher ground and have a look—you lot stay here.”

“What—really? Now?” Weaver looked up worriedly.

“I won’t be long.” He stalked off through the trees towards the ridgeline, leaving them standing next to the ruined helicopter.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it! Please let me know what you think, I live for comments!
> 
> As always, you can find me on Tumblr @constantreader85


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